College should consider pumping up the PEC

A typical week for a College student includes trekking to classes at all hours of the day and night, slaving away in the library into extended study hours and earning that precious going-out money with an on or off-campus job.

So what better way to clear your head and cleanse your system of the Sodexo grease then a nice, relaxing stint on the elliptical machine at the gym.

Oh, wait.

First, someone is on the machine you reserved, so you feel like an asshole for kicking them off. Then you get on the machine and begin your workout. You reach for the handlebars only to find an uneven and cut-up surface. Great.

Come 8:26 or so, you anxiously look over your shoulder at the shorts-and-T-shirt clad army of 8:30ers entering the gym. Someone looks at his or her watch and approaches you with a determined air. Time to get the paper towels.

Your workout cut short, you decide to head to the weight machines and buff up a little. Again, the pads are ripped up, the machines are rusty and all the machines you want to use are occupied.

So our gym situation is not ideal. Most of the machines are more than 10 years old and three treadmills are out of commission. Since administrators estimate about 500 students use the gym every day, the situation is only going to decline.

So how do we fix the problem?

Although the $80,000 budget Physical Enhancement Center (PEC) director Deborah Simpson suggested is a bit steep, it’s clear some funding should be found to improve the gym.

The money for PEC comes from the student service fee, which 83 percent of students say they are willing to increase to improve the gym.

So Board of Trustees, an overwhelming majority of College students want to make this improvement to our campus, and how often does that happen?

We’re even willing to pay money – a real feat for poor college students trying to get by in a non-recession.

The reality is that the gym is a real necessity for many students on campus. Let’s work together to improve the amenities of our physical enhancement center, because how else are we going to counter the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior 15?